Dalam kelas lisan, guru merakam suara kami sebagai rakaman latihan.

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Questions & Answers about Dalam kelas lisan, guru merakam suara kami sebagai rakaman latihan.

What is the nuance of dalam in Dalam kelas lisan, and could I use di instead?

Both dalam and di can relate to location, but they’re not always interchangeable.

  • dalam literally means “inside/within”, and is often used with:
    • time or activity frames: dalam kelas, dalam mesyuarat (in class, in a meeting)
    • abstract “spaces”: dalam hidup saya (in my life)
  • di is more like a simple “at / in / on” for physical locations: di sekolah, di rumah, di bilik.

In this sentence:

  • Dalam kelas lisan = “In (the context of) the oral class”, emphasizing the activity/situation rather than a physical room.

You could say Di dalam kelas lisan, which is also correct and feels a bit heavier, meaning “in the oral class (room/setting)”.
Just Di kelas lisan is possible but less common; Dalam kelas lisan sounds very natural when you mean “during oral class” as an activity.

What exactly does kelas lisan mean? Is lisan “oral” like in “oral exam”?

Yes. Lisan means oral / spoken (as opposed to written).

  • kelas lisan = oral class / speaking class
  • ujian lisan = oral test
  • kemahiran lisan = speaking skills

So kelas lisan is a class focusing on speaking/oral practice, much like an oral communication or conversation class in English.

Why is it just guru and not “the teacher” or “a teacher”? How do articles work here?

Malay doesn’t use articles like “a” or “the”. The bare noun guru can mean:

  • the teacher (if context makes it clear)
  • a teacher (if you’re introducing one)

In context:

  • Dalam kelas lisan, guru merakam suara kami…
    • Most naturally: “In the oral class, the teacher records our voices…”

If you need to be more specific, you add words:

  • guru itu = that/the (specific) teacher
  • seorang guru = a teacher (one teacher)

But in everyday sentences, guru by itself is enough when it’s obvious which teacher you’re talking about (e.g. your class teacher).

What’s the difference between merakam and merakamkan? Could I say guru merakamkan suara kami?

Both exist, but there’s a nuance:

  • merakam = to record (basic active verb)
    • guru merakam suara kami = the teacher records our voices.
  • merakamkan adds an extra nuance, often:
    • slightly more formal
    • can emphasize doing the action for someone or cause something to be recorded

You can say:

  • Guru merakamkan suara kami sebagai rakaman latihan.

It’s grammatically correct and still means “The teacher records our voices as practice recordings.”
In modern everyday usage, merakam is more common and feels simpler and more neutral.

Why is it suara kami, not suara kita? What’s the difference between kami and kita?

Malay distinguishes two kinds of “we”:

  • kami = we / us (excluding the listener)
    • speaker + others, but not the person being spoken to
  • kita = we / us (including the listener)
    • speaker + listener + possibly others

In suara kami:

  • The “we” is the students, and the listener is probably someone outside that group (for example, you’re telling another person about your class).
  • So you say kami (we but not you).

If you were speaking to a fellow classmate (who is also recorded), you might use suara kita (“our voices, including you and me”) in some contexts, but suara kami is the safe, default choice when reporting this to an outsider.

There’s no plural marker on suara. How do we know it means “voices” and not just “voice”?

Malay usually doesn’t mark plural with an ending like -s. Nouns are neutral:

  • suara can mean voice or voices, depending on context.
  • suara kami = our voice / our voices, but since kami is more than one person, we interpret this as our voices.

If you wanted to emphasize plurality, you could say:

  • suara-suara kami = our voices (with a strong plural feel, but this is rarely needed here)

In most cases, suara kami is perfectly natural for “our voices”. Context does the work.

What is the function of sebagai in sebagai rakaman latihan? Could I just say untuk latihan instead?

Sebagai means “as / in the capacity of”. It shows the role or function of something.

  • sebagai rakaman latihan = as practice recordings, i.e. the recordings serve the role of practice material.

Compare:

  • …merakam suara kami sebagai rakaman latihan.
    = records our voices as practice recordings.
  • …merakam suara kami untuk latihan.
    = records our voices for practice.

Both are grammatically correct:

  • untuk latihan focuses on the purpose: the recording is for practice.
  • sebagai rakaman latihan focuses on the identity/role: these recordings are the practice recordings.

The original sentence slightly highlights that they are the official practice recordings.

Is rakaman latihan a compound noun? How does the word order work here?

Yes, rakaman latihan is a kind of noun–noun compound:

  • rakaman = recording
  • latihan = practice / exercise

In Malay:

  • Noun 1 + Noun 2
    often means “Noun 1 of Noun 2” or “Noun 1 for Noun 2”.

So:

  • rakaman latihanpractice recording / recording for practice

Word order:

  • You do not say latihan rakaman for this meaning.
  • The head noun (rakaman) comes first; the “specifier” (latihan) comes after.
Could this sentence be turned into a passive form, like “our voices are recorded by the teacher”?

Yes. A natural passive version is:

  • Dalam kelas lisan, suara kami dirakam oleh guru sebagai rakaman latihan.
    = In the oral class, our voices are recorded by the teacher as practice recordings.

Notes:

  • dirakam = is/are recorded (passive form of merakam)
  • oleh guru = by the teacher

You can also omit oleh if the agent is obvious:

  • Dalam kelas lisan, suara kami dirakam guru sebagai rakaman latihan.

Both are correct; the original active sentence is slightly more straightforward for learners.

Is the whole sentence formal, informal, or neutral? Would it sound natural in everyday speech?

The sentence is neutral to slightly formal, and it sounds natural in:

  • school or university contexts
  • written descriptions (e.g. a report about class activities)

In casual spoken Malay among students, you might hear simplified variants, for example:

  • Dalam kelas lisan, cikgu rakam suara kami untuk latihan.
    • cikgu instead of guru (more colloquial)
    • rakam instead of merakam (dropping the meN- prefix in speech)
    • untuk latihan instead of sebagai rakaman latihan

But the original sentence is perfectly natural and a good model for clear, slightly formal Malay.